Lid-support for caskets.



No. 793,042 PATBNTED JUNE 27, 1905.

W. E. BOND.

LID SUPPORT FOR GASKETS.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII AB..7,1905.

Patented June 27, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM E. BOND, OF FLATROCK, ILLINOIS.

LID-SUPPORT FOR GASKETS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 793,042, dated June 27', 1905.

Application filed March '7, 1905. Serial No. 248.903.

To all u'hmrt it nut concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM E. BOND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Flatrock, in the county of Crawford and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lid-Supports for Caskets, of which the following is a specification.

As is well known, the covers of burialcas kets are removable therefrom and the form of the closure gives rise to several disadvantages in its actual use, particularly from the standpoint of the undertaker. In the first place no small amount of inconvenience is incurred in finding a suitable place to put the lid or cover after a casket has been placed in position preparatory to arranging the corpse therein. Usually it is necessary to find a support upon which to rest the lid, or the same may be stood against a wall or like support some distance from the casket and in an obtrusive position. Further, it is sometimes impracticable to find space for laying the lid upon the floor or resting it against the wall, so that under some conditions the undertaker is often much embarrassed as to disposition of the casket-closure when the same should be removed from the coffin.

It is therefore the essential object of this invention to secure means whereby the lid or cover of the casket though removable therefrom in substantially the same manner as at present may be supported at one side of the casket convenient to the same for purposes of replacing said lid and at the same time affording to a certain extent an ornamental arrangement, as will be clearly shown herein after.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire aknowledge of the details of construction of the means for effecting the result reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings.

While the invention may be adapted to different forms and conditions by changes in the structure and minor details without departing from the spirit or essential features thereof, still the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a casket,

the lid or cover being shown supported at one side thereof, as contemplated in the practical embodiment of this invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation, parts arranged as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view bringing out more clearly the form of the supporting members utilized for holding the lid at one side of the casket. Fig. 4 is a detail pers ective view of the supporting members for t e lid.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the burial-casket, the same being of the type at present most commonly in use. The casket 1 is provided with a lid or cover 2, which is removable therefrom in the customary manner. Extending londitudinally of the casket and at the ends, between the upper and lower sides of the same, is the usual head or projectin rib 3, provided ordinarily for ornamental purposes. At one side of the casket are provided a plurality of supporting members 4, which preferably consist of hooks, said members being arranged, preferably, between the top and bottom of the casket and in an unobtrusive position. Further, it is preferred that the supporting members 4 be ocated just above the part 3 of the casket, so that they do not form projecting elements which might be of some disadvantage. Supporting members 5 are likewise carried by the lid or cover 2, and these members preferably comprise plates projected from the bottom of the lid at a point between its side edges. The number of members 5 is substantially the same as that of the members 4, and the plates 5 are provided with suitable openings through which the hooks 4 are adapted to pass when the lid is lifted and forced to one side of the casket to engage the several members 4 and 5 for the purposes described hereinbefore.

The supporting members 5 are preferably arranged nearer one side of the lid 2 than the other, so that the lid will incline slightly from the vertical, increasing the stability of the same when it is disposed in position upon the members l.

It will be understood that it is designed to utilize any suitable form of supporting members 4 and 5 in order to support the lid at one side of the casket, it not being my desire to limit myself to the exact means illustrated and described hereinbefore.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is In combination, a burial-casket, a removable lid therefor, the casket being provided with the surrounding bead or enlargement 3, supporting members projected from a side of the casket between the top and bottom thereof and arranged just above the bead 3 aforesaid, and complemental supporting members projected from the bottom of the I 5 lid between the side edges thereoffor cooperation with the supporting members of the casket to support the lid at one side of said casket.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 20 in presence of two witnesses.

G. T. TAYLOR, CHAS. O. TAYLOR. 

